Fergus, the job management software for the trades, is encouraging installers to prioritise keeping on top of their finances.
“With a cost of living crisis and rising energy, fuel and material costs, it is so important that business finances are prioritised,” says James Chillman, UK Country Manager for Fergus. “Autumn is the start of the heating season and it marks the point when construction work ramps up as people get back from their summer holidays. It is a busy time for the trade, but making time to invoice on time and chase payment is absolutely crucial.”
Staying organised as a trade business owner can be difficult, especially when managing a million things on a day-to-day basis. This can take its toll. Recent research showed that a third of tradespeople cited finances as being their main cause of anxiety, while Mates in Mind says 44% of construction workers worry that their workload is too high.
“It’s all about discipline when it comes to keeping on top of the books. If you are someone who is constantly putting your record-keeping on the back burner, you’ll know how painful it is to sit down and have to tackle days, weeks or even months of invoicing and receipts. If you don’t have the right processes in place, this is also where mistakes get made,” continues James.
“Ask yourself; what can you do so your business can invoice every day and therefore get paid on time? If you are invoicing and following up on invoices every day you will notice the cash starts to come in very quickly. That’s where Fergus can really make a difference – it allows you to see how your business is performing in certain areas and how profitable individual jobs are.”
In Fergus, you can create quotes on the spot, send out invoices or chase late payment with automated SMS messaging. Bigger jobs can be broken down into milestones, which makes managing costs and progress easier. The cost and purchase of all materials can be logged, and by uploading price books, material costs will appear in quotes automatically and can be adjusted by creating tiered mark-ups for different clients or job types.
Plumber Dan Pollard, the founder of Fergus, knows all about business stress. After going bust once, and burning out a second time, he looked for a solution to dealing with finances and streamlining admin, but quickly discovered there was none. The trades had effectively been ignored by the software industry. Using his own experiences, he sought to develop a system which saved tradespeople time, simplified admin, ensured they could work efficiently, and get paid. Fergus was born, named after Dan’s dog and best friend. It’s a software solution that helps the trade easily keep on top of finances.
For a free trial and more business help and advice, visit fergus.com
